UFC 101 Preview: Can Ricardo Almeida's Skill Overcome Kendall Grove's Sizeable Advantage?

UFC 101's main card line-up for Saturday night will also feature a battle in the UFC's middleweight division between third-degree Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Ricardo Almeida (10-3) and The Ultimate Figher Season 3 winner Kendall Grove (10-5-0-1) in which both fighters are looking for a win to boost their stock. The bout could prove to be a huge boost for Grove's confidence against a very tough Ricardo Almeida, and it'll just be another stepping stone for Almeida to get some much needed exposure on the UFC telecast along with putting him into the mid-level of talent at middleweight.

Grove is coming off two straight wins after potentially being on the chopping block after two straight losses at UFC 74 and UFC 80. He lost to eventual contender Patrick Cote at UFC 75 via knockout, and he was rushed by Jorge Rivera at UFC 80 which resulted in the same outcome in quicker fashion. Following both knockouts, the UFC pitted Grove against the late UFC legend Evan Tanner, a fight most people expected to be a "goodbye" to Grove. Unfortunately for those fans, Grove win via split decision over Tanner. UFC 96 put Grove on a two-fight win streak with a knockout victory over Jason Day in only 1:32 into the fight.

Grove has been training at BJ Penn's MMA in Hilo for quite some time now, and it's definitely improved some of his skills. Most notably, he has some solid Muay Thai techniques along with above average Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. His lengthy frame definitely helps both of those areas of his game, and the main problem opponents have with Grove is his reach and height. The past has proven, however, that Grove's chin isn't granite, and he has yet to take on a true jiu-jitsu master like Almeida in his career.

Ricardo Almeida is coming off an unanimous decision win over Matt Horwich at UFC Fight Night 18 after he dropped an effort via split decision to Patrick Cote at UFC 86. Almeida has had some health problems as well in his current stint with the UFC. He had a sports hernia in his abdomen diagnosed following the Patrick Cote fight, which led to a postponement in his fighting schedule. Opting out of surgery, Almeida has changed his training regiment for the better in order to alleviate the problems due to the hernia. As an effect of the new training, Almeida's weight dropped off due to the extensive workouts, and he had been contemplating a move to Welterweight. Instead, Almeida decided to hold off on the move once again in order to fight in front of hometown at UFC 101.

Almeida is bringing an even more well-rounded skill set to the table in this fight. He already had a third-degree black belt from Renzo Gracie on his resume, but he's been working on his striking and wrestling extensively as well. His striking coach, Mark Henry, is the man who trained Frankie Edgar for his brilliant boxing strategy against Sean Sherk, and Almeida is hoping he can do the same thing for his overall stand-up game. It'll be interesting to see if it'll actually have an impact against Grove's massive reach.

Grove vs. Almeida really comes down to Kendall's improvements. His chin isn't granite, and he hasn't faced a jiu-jitsu submission fighter like Almeida ever. Almeida is going to have to try to deal with Grove's huge size, and it's likely that Grove will come out strong like he has in past fights. The real question is whether or not we'll see the Almeida of old that defeated Nate Marquardt and Kazuo Misaki in Pancrase five or six years ago.

Almeida has made his way back to the big leagues, but he has yet to prove his skills are good enough to get to the top. This fight should ultimately be a bigger test than most fans realize for both fighters. Due to Almeida's vast background in jiu-jitsu and improving skills overall, I'd take him via submission in this match-up without even thinking twice. Beware though... Grove's 6" height advantage, reach advantage, and quick start could finish Almeida in upset fashion.